It's a Date! And a Date, and a Date
by tfamonk
Summary: The Hyper Force grows closer than when Chiro proposes an unorthodox solution for the romantic tension that plagues them. (AU Where Mandarin didn't go full evil and Nova is a male named Apollo) SLASH WARNING, Chiro/Team
1. It's Not a Competition

**Chapter 1: It's Not a Competition**

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Why, you ask as you read the description? Because I'm a weirdo, that's why. Also, Nova is a boy named Apollo in this because the friend I worked on with this is a huge slash fan.

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><p>"I don't see what the confusion is, Mr. Hal Gibson." Mandarin snapped, deliberately using his full name to annoy him. "I need the lab for a project I am working on, and all you have to do is get out of my way and let me do it. Is that so difficult to comprehend?" His accent got more pronounced when he was annoyed, which just helped to emphasize his insulting tone. "I know you're not familiar with the not-laboratory world, but it is this big big place without a wall or a ceiling. You'll have fun! Just go!"<p>

Gibson glared at the orange monkey, used to such abuse from Sprx, but finding it far more irritating when given to him by Mandarin, he being far more abrasive in tone. "And I don't see why I can't stay to see what you're doing, you know what happened the last last time I left one of you alone in here." Ugh, the stench had remained for weeks afterwards, he wasn't about to make that mistake again.

"That was a complete accident, and it couldn't have been prevented by you hovering over my shoulder!" Mandarin snapped at him, rising up to his full height in an attempt to intimidate Gibson into going away. In was a fruitless effort, mainly because they were the exact same height, and Mandarin no longer had the authority to make Gibson do anything. "You know I hate it when people crowd me! Nothing will happen to your precious lab."

Gibson crossed his arms, not exactly appeased. "Then tell me what you're planning on doing, and don't lie to me." He had made some vague mentions earlier, but when he tried to get Mandarin to be more exact, the monkey avoided his questions. If it was simple enough, he would allow Mandarin to use his lab this once, if not, he would stay, it was that simple.

Mandarin was sorely tempted to fight Gibson, but it was that exact kind of over-reaction that had gotten him deposed as leader of the team in the first place. And he did regret his outbursts, after the fact, so he forced himself to fold his arms instead of unleashing his sword and shield. "...I am making a gift." He admitted with a grumble. "Happy?"

"Really?" Gibson was surprised. Mandarin making a gift for someone? "Who is it for?" He was honestly very curious, Mandarin never did anything like that, for anyone. Heck, the monkey barely ever apologized for being rude, much less giving gifts to others. Perhaps something had occurred between him and one of the others, something more severe than usual, and he needed to somehow make amends?

The orange monkey puffed out his chest and looked smug. "I think you can probably guess, Gibson." Mandarin's ruby eyes glinted as he leaned towards the blue monkey. "Who else? My boyfriend!"

Gibson sputtered, "A w-what? You have a boyfriend Mandarin?" He was surprised, "Who? I mean, it's probably someone on the team, you hate humans, which means any citizens of Shuggazoom are out of the question." He pondered to himself who it could possibly be, "Did you and Apollo finally make up then?"

"Apollo?" Mandarin looked taken aback. As far as he knew, Apollo hated him after he'd gone too far on the fierce monkey's training. "No! Not Apollo. And I don't hate all humans…" He smiled coyly at Gibson, expecting him to take the hint. After all, it wasn't as though they had been very subtle.

"...what." That was all Gibson had to say for several seconds. "That's not possible." Was what he followed it up with. "You and Chiro can't be dating. That's… impossible."

Mandarin tilted his head up proudly. "And why not? Clearly, Chiro is the only one here who appreciates me for what I am."

Gibson smirked, "Alright, besides the fact that appreciating you for what you are is impossible, because what you are is a horrible person; if Chiro's dating anyone, it's me. We just went out yesterday."

"...Excuse me…?" Mandarin's red eyes began to glow at that, and he was having trouble keeping his arms folded. "Chiro has escorted me out on the town more times than he has dragged you out of your lab!"

Gibson snorted, "Perhaps, but Chiro appreciates that I'm busy, and I've made my intentions clear enough towards him. Or can you claim something stronger? Because I doubt you can."

"I think our 'sparring sessions' put me in the lead!" Mandarin spat at him, annoyed that this was even an argument, no longer completely certain he was correct about his relationship with Chiro. "He seeks me out more often than he seeks you!" Which was just feeding back into Gibson's own argument that Chiro simply respected his need for space, but Mandarin had been thrown off of his rhythm.

Gibson wasn't exactly feeling comfortable either, realizing that he may not have made his intentions with Chiro 100% clear. Still, he was certain that he wasn't dating Mandarin, but he should really solidify the relationship. "If that's how you feel, perhaps we should go visit Chiro right now."

"Absolutely!" Mandarin snapped, his tail lashing angrily behind him. "I'm certain he will let you down easily!" He whirled around and began to march away, determined to find Chiro and put an end to this nonsense.

Gibson was right behind him, more than happy to see the truth revealed and for Mandarin to quit it with his delusions. If he had been aware of his feelings, he would have made a far more bolder approach towards their leader.

It was as they approached the main room on their way, that they ran into Antauri, who was making his way down the hall. "Ah, hello you… is something wrong?" He noticed the looks the two had on their faces.

"Nothing is wrong that will not be corrected momentarily!" Mandarin answered. "Have you seen Chiro?"

"Um, he was in his room last time I checked, why? Is it perhaps something I can assist in?" He knew that Mandarin often got into feuds with the others, but they were normally with either Apollo or Sprx.

"That depends," said Gibson, somewhat flippantly, "has Chiro been talking to you about who he's been dating?"

Antauri fell silent, "...pardon?"

"Who he has been dating! Who he is wooing! This fool says that it is he, but I know better!" Mandarin was almost hopping in place from fury, pointing accusingly at Gibson.

Antauri was silent for several more seconds before speaking up again, "...is this a joke?"

Gibson sighed, "I had a bad feeling that this might happen. Look, Antauri, I know you're very close to Chiro and that you'd probably be against any of us being in a relationship with him, but-"

"That is not the problem Gibson." He shook his head, "Well, it is, but not in the way you think. I, am the one here who is quote, unquote, dating, Chiro."

"..." Mandarin stared at him, wondering if fighting both of them at the same time would be as bad as just hurting Gibson. He considered his rational options, then tossed them out the window and sneered. "And here I feared the blue recluse was deluding himself, but it seems that Chiro was being lead astray by a trusted authority figure! Shame on you, Antauri. Abusing his trust and naivety like that!"

Antauri gave Mandarin an inquisitive look, "So you dating him would be fine, but if it is me, suddenly Chiro's trust and naivety are being abused? Your argument does not hold water Mandarin; but that is besides the point, I am the one who holds Chiro's affections."

Irritated, Mandarin turned to Gibson. "Has he not been behaving as a surrogate father figure? Was I just imagining all those times he mentored him and tucked him into bed?" Which was entirely beside the point, of course, but Mandarin was loathe to lose an argument against Antauri.

Gibson glanced between the two, irritated, "Although I think you're exaggerating, I can't help but somewhat agree with you."

Antauri shook his head, "Chiro is a mature young man, and I assure you we have been taking it very slow, I have done nothing to make him uncomfortable."

"Excuses!" Mandarin snapped. "And delusions, because I am the only one he views in that light. And the sooner we reach his room and ask him, the sooner you both can accept it!"

Antauri rolled his eyes as the two made their way off, Gibson following after a storming Mandarin. He decided he should follow, lest Mandarin take Chiro's rejection poorly. As they passed through the lounge, about to take the elevator up, Apollo and Sprx, who were spending their time there, saw them.

"Look, I'm not saying that it's a bad idea, just-" Sprx paused in his conversation with Apollo and glanced over at the three other Monkeys. "Don't look now, but it looks like Mandarin is on a rampage."

Apollo frowned. "Looks like a parade to me. Hey, guys! What's going on?" The two Monkeys hopped off of the bars they had been hanging from to approach the other three.

Mandarin scowled at them, refusing to answer and continued forward. They both turned to Antauri, confused.

The silver monkey sighed, "Mandarin and Gibson are both convinced that Chiro is in a relationship with them, respectively."

Gibson frowned, "Although Antauri is saying that such a claim is ridiculous."

Apollo frowned, while Sprx chuckled uncomfortably. "What? No no no… look, the kid is kind of shy about things, but he's definitely going out with me. Heh, sorry to break it to you all." Sprx straddled the line between sheepish and smug as he spread his arms.

"Oh no. No no no no…" Apollo put his hands on his hips and glared at the rest of his team. "Look, I have no idea where you all got the idea that Chiro was dating any one of you, but he and I are going out! I- Hey!" Everyone had already begun to hurry and rush after Mandarin, who hadn't paused in his angry stride to Chiro's room, and at some point it became a race to keep up with him, ending with the entire Monkey Team minus Otto crashing in a heap in front of Chiro's door. Weakly, Mandarin raised his arm from the pile and knocked.


	2. Except When It Is

**Chapter 2: Except When It Is**

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><p>The door opened, Otto looking down at the team unexpectedly, "Oh, hey guys. What are you doing here?" He happily asked.<p>

Chiro was right behind him, slightly more perplexed than Otto. "Are you guys ok?"

"Chiro!" Powered by anger, Mandarin emerged from the bottom of the pile and furiously pointed to everyone, ending at the nonplussed Otto. "Explain to them that you are not just giving me false hope! ...I mean, that we are dating!"

"...what?" Chiro's look of confusion matched that of someone who had just found something unidentifiable in a refrigerator, not sure whether what they had just encountered was benign or not.

"What?!" Otto's question was less confused, and more akin to finding out that one's favorite show had been canceled. He immediately began to sulk, "Aw, man, there goes my plan."

"Kid! Hey, sorry about this." Sprx tried to regain his dignity by standing up and looking nonchalant as he leaned against Mandarin. "Just explain to these guys that you and me have been going out, and I'll make sure they scram, okay? Don't worry, I'll smooth everything over." Mandarin, whose eyes had been glowing brighter and brighter as Sprx spoke, took one deliberate step to the side to cause Sprx to lose his support and flail wildly before falling to the ground.

Chiro continued to be confused, but slowly began to realize what was occurring, although still not sure if it was real or in fact a dream he was having, "Wait, what?!"

Gibson shook his head in disapproval at Sprx, smirking as he fell to the ground in a less than elegant pile, "I apologize for the confusion Chiro, but it seems some debate has arisen about the status of our relationship. If you would be so kind as to 'clear the air', so to speak, and tell them that ours is the real relationship, I would greatly appreciate it."

Sprx attempted to get up, only for Apollo to step over him and stand on his helmet to get at eye level with Chiro. "Chiro? I need you to think back. Remember all those times when you and I hung out? All the hugging and cuddling? Yeah, I need you to tell these guys that it all happened, and then we can put this behind us. Sorry they're being jerks about it."

"We are not being jerks!" Mandarin snapped, his voice getting higher with anxiety. Chiro looked more baffled than he had expected, and he was not immediately proclaiming Mandarin to be his one and only, which was worrying.

Antauri sighed, the poor boy was obviously not used to this type of attention, and the team's behavior wasn't exactly helping any matters, "I do apologize Chiro, I suppose I should have tried to prevent them from coming here, this is obviously very stressful for you; not that I do not understand, mind you. But, as Gibson said, if you could just clarify your relationship with me, I will be able to handle matters from there."

Chiro looked just about ready to flee, "I… I don't know what any of you are talking about! The only person I've ever dated was Jinmay, and we broke up months ago! Are you all confusing me for someone?!" He really had no idea what else to say to all this insanity.

By this point, Sprx had freed himself from underneath Apollo, and had been in the process of starting to fuss at the yellow monkey when Chiro's outburst interrupted him. "...What? Kid, settle down. You must be confused. You and me have been together for about a month now. Remember?" He smiled encouragingly at him. "When you told me that you liked me?"

The others clearly wanted to escalate this argument, but none of them wanted to upset Chiro any further, so they were stuck in a limbo between trying to coax him to agree with them and reassure him that there was nothing to fear.

"Yes, as a friend! You thought I meant…!" Chiro trailed off as all the pieces seemed to slide into place. Looking back, he supposed it was kind of obvious, but it's amazing what the human brain is capable of ignoring. "Oh Shuggazoom, I-I thought you guys were just being friendly, honest!"

Silence followed that statement as the monkey team tried to come to terms with this new information. They glanced at one another uncertainly, not certain how to process it. Just friendly?

"...What." Mandarin's tone was flat with disbelief. "Do you seriously think that I would have trusted any of them the way I trusted you?" He jerked his thumb behind him at the rest of the team with contempt. "No! That was not… I was not being friendly!" He stomped his foot, aware that he was being absurd, but trying to focus on anything but the hurt he was feeling.

Antauri was able to hid his disappointment the best, and turned his attention to Mandarin, trying to contain the situation. "Mandarin, please calm down, we… all appeared to have made a large assumption that was untrue. But that does not mean Chiro dislikes you." He tried his best to comfort his teammate, but the orange monkey was having none of it.

Meanwhile, Otto looked at the others, mildly amused, but also worried about Chiro, "Wait, so you guys all already thought you were dating Chiro? Wow, good thing I didn't get a chance to actually ask him; that could have been really bad, huh?"

There was a brief pause and a very telling silence before all of the monkeys began speaking at once. "So, Chiro how about you and me go-" "Chiro! I know this great seafood place-" "Chiro would you please accompany me t-" Mandarin firmly pushed Antauri aside and approached Chiro with confidence.

"Chiro… I have made my feelings on this matter clear." He paused, taking a breath before speaking again, clearly distraught. "But it seems you were not prepared for this. So we will give you space to think on things." Mandarin firmly grabbed hold of Otto and dragged him out of the room, and began to push the protesting other monkeys away from their leader's room.

Chiro stood there in silence for a few moments, before closing his door, and silently making his way over to his bed. He sat down on his sheets, laid down and proceeded to scream into his pillow, it absorbing all the stress he was feeling.

Gibson was the first to disentangle himself from the group, managing to jab Sprx in the head with his elbow as he did so. "Alright Mandarin, that's enough, there's no need to keep pushing, I think we all got the idea!" He huffed as he brushed himself off.

Mandarin give him a petulant shove for that, but he didn't put much effort into it. Instead he folded his arms and stormed away, standing apart from the rest of the group and glaring at the wall, his tail lashing wildly behind him.

Otto smiled sadly at Mandarin, not wanting to incur his wrath, but also wanting to give him some comfort. "Uh… I'm sure Chiro will think really carefully about this. And uh…" He didn't know what else to say, even an optimist like himself saw this only ending badly. Either Chiro chose one of them and they all loathed that monkey, or he chose none of them and they all ended up miserable.

Sprx and Apollo stood closer to one another than the others, looking uncomfortable. There had always been some playful flirting in their relationship, but now they were both competing for the same guy, which left them unsure how to react. Anger? Resentment? Competitiveness? But both of them cared too much about Chiro to reduce him to some kind of prize to be fought over, so now they just fidgeted and tried to think of some way to break the tension in the room.

Antauri decided to clear the air first, "I do believe it would be best if we all decided to spend some time apart, try and… figure ourselves out." He frowned as he glanced back towards Chiro's door, realizing that left as he was, Chiro might not say anything about this, and try and sweep it under the rug. Such a situation was far from ideal, "I suggest we leave Chiro a note, asking him to please come to the common room at… 8 sounds good? And for him to make his choice there. That will give him… and all of us, the rest of the day to think about this." He turned to Mandarin, "And before you say anything, Mandarin, no I will not go alone, you can accompany me when I slip the note under his door."

"And…!" Sprx spoke up, glancing at the others. "We all agree to respect his decision, no matter what. Getting jealous and making problems would hurt Chiro the most, and none of us wants that." Apollo was surprised at this, but smiled and nodded in agreement. Sometimes Sprx reminded him why he was attracted to him in the first place. Among other reasons…

Mandarin scowled at this, but nodded as well. "It is only fair." He glared at Antauri, but there was no venom in it this time. "Let us write the note, cradle-robber."

Antauri smirked, "Coming from the monkey who is three years older." Regardless, he nodded and turned to the rest of the team, "But very well, we will see you in the evening team."

As the two walked off, Gibson sighed, "So…" He smiled in spite of himself, "we are all kind of idiots, aren't we?" He looked over to the green monkey, "So, what was your plan, anyway Otto?"

He shrugged thinking it was obvious, "Well, I was gonna tell him that I really liked him and all that. Nothing special, ask him out too I guess." He quickly waved his hands in front of him, "Although I didn't know any of you guys felt the same way, honest!"

Gibson blinked a few times, before sighing, "What does it say about all of us, that you were the only one here who actually thought to do that?"


	3. Dread

**Chapter 3: Dread**

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><p>The other monkeys were not entirely sure what to do with themselves, but they did drift apart as Antauri had suggested to try and sort out their feelings. Some might have wondered if they felt love or just friendship and attraction. Others might have worried that they were just interested in him because he was the only member of the team who didn't feel uncomfortably like a sibling. Mandarin paced restlessly around the training room, never quite managing to use his weapons despite his frustration, feeling pathetic and needy for wanting Chiro to return his feelings, and bitter because yet again things had not turned out as he had wanted. And yet he found that he was not angry at Chiro himself; Chiro had been a rainbow in the dark, and comforted him at his lowest point. When he had… transgressed against the rest of the team, he had been put on the outs and made simian non grata with the others. It had been Chiro who had shaken up their dynamics and offered Mandarin a chance at redemption, and the boy might never know how profoundly thankful Mandarin was to earn his siblings forgiveness, or how deeply he had loved Chiro from that moment on. If Chiro wanted to only be his friend, Mandarin would be grateful for that alone. But he still desperately hoped that Chiro could see him as being worthy.<p>

Antauri did his best to meditate, finding himself unable to no matter how hard he tried to let himself relax. That was the thing, he couldn't relax, not when the thought of Chiro rejecting him kept running through his mind. It was ridiculous, of course, he knew that even if Chiro didn't accept his feelings, he wouldn't be rude about it, but it didn't leave his mind any sooner with that knowledge. He had developed his feeling relatively early on, seeing Chiro less as a son, and always as more a cute young man. Still, as he had gotten to know him, the feelings flourished, him growing more certain with each day that Chiro would be the perfect leader. And with him being the second in command, he didn't think a relationship with him would be too much of a stretch. If only he had voice his feelings sooner, perhaps, then things might be different. Of course, he realized how selfish that was towards his fellow teammates, and silently cursed himself.

Apollo punched the air in his room, but his heart wasn't in it. His hands felt too heavy, and he wound up wandering over to his bed to flop down and stare at the ceiling. He'd never pegged himself as the mushy type, not like Sprx and his efforts to flirt and play and bond with others like he did. But Chiro… Chiro seemed so vulnerable, and then he revealed this unbreakable core of determination, and when it seemed he would need rescuing he turned around and lead them to victory. Apollo had developed a crush over time, and then deluded himself into thinking that he could defeat his feelings by spending time with Chiro via sparring and training, but the more he got the know him, the more he'd grown to like him. Apollo sighed and rolled over on his side, and wondered how bad a rejection would hurt.

Otto meanwhile, idly worked on his machines, not sure what to build, or to improve, and instead busied himself with taking apart and reassembling various pieces of equipment he had lying around. He knew each of them by heart, so it was an exercise in stress relief. He was never the romantic type, he always preferred friendship, but there was something special about Chiro, how fun and lighthearted he could be, even though he was their leader who could seemingly conquer any obstacle before him… Otto fell quickly for him. The green monkey hadn't expected it, not after him trying to ask Gibson out that one time went so poorly, but it happened, and he was kind of dreading the time that was fast approaching.

Sprx wandered around the Super Robot with no clear destination in mind, only avoiding the others and distracting himself with using his magnets to swing from the ceiling, cling to the walls, and drag him forward down the halls. Despite the way he would flirt with the attractive aliens they came across, Apollo and anyone who caught his eye, Sprx had about as much experience with romance as any of the others did. Flirting was fun, and he enjoyed the way someone would light up or blush when he hit on them, but it never quite got past that stage. Then the kid had appeared one day to wake them up from the long sleep and swept Sprx right off his feet without even trying. He could play it cool, but here was a handsome, adorable little badass who pushed all of Sprx's buttons with a mallet. Sprx was definitely interested, and had wasted no time in using every trick he knew to catch Chiro's attention in return, but the kid wound up seeing him more as a brother, until Sprx finally coaxed him into seeing him as the little red stud he knew he was. Except that he'd messed up, wound up looking like a fool, and might have ruined his chances to even be Chiro's big bro. Sprx trudged glumly, his magnets dragging on the ground. It just figured the first time he'd really wanted someone, he'd flub it up this badly.

Gibson spent his time in the med bay, taking stock of all their supplies, but not really doing it well, constantly miscounting and skipping objects. He had thought he should take his mind off of what had happened, but it was doing the exact opposite, making him focus more on the upcoming announcement. He had always told himself that romance, love, all that nonsense wasn't for him. But over the past few months, something inside of him had apparently decided to disagree with that, and get a huge crush on their junior leader. He was an inquisitive mind at heart, Gibson could tell, and the boy was… very cute. That combined with his pleasant demeanor, and his willingness to put up with his introverted behavior wasn't something that Gibson came across often. Of course, being as inexperienced with the idea of romance as he was, he of course would completely mess it up.

The fated hour came at last, and it was with no small amount of reluctance that the team gathered in the common room, and there was general uncertainty as to how to present themselves for Chiro when he arrived. Looking miserable would only make him feel guilty, while looking happy would give him the impression that they each felt like they were going to be chosen, and pretending to be entirely nonchalant about the whole situation was probably impossible. By unspoken agreement, they each stayed away from each other, sitting on opposite sides of the room and giving everyone plenty of space. Their anxiety rose with each minute, and it was difficult not to stare at the door as they waited for their leader to arrive and give his decision.

Chiro came in slowly, smiling nervously, eyes panning from each team member to the other, "Uh... hey guys. Got your note." He chuckled shakily, before falling silent, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to continue. "So… you guys all really like me then, huh?"

Sprx had to bite back a reply that would have been too loud, and ended up making a kind of squeaking noise, but he nodded. He would have taken Chiro's hand to add to his sincerity, but he was pretty sure one of the others would have socked him. Apollo tried to smile reassuringly at him, and nodded as well. "We really do, Chiro." Mandarin squirmed in his seat, forced to openly admit his feelings once again, and wound up curling his legs up to his chest, and wrapping his arms and tail around them before looking and Chiro with sad eyes and nodding.

Chiro gulped, trying his best to gather his courage and say what was next, "Well um… I really like all of you guys. Like… I don't know who to choose so…" He drifted off, the silence deafening.

Gibson did his best not to say anything, he had a feeling this was how it was going to go. Chiro choosing none of them as to keep the team together the best he could. Antauri was frowning, thinking the same thing, but was reluctantly accepting it. "...I want to date all of you!" Chiro exclaimed. All of them are shocked, Otto the first to say anything. "Huh?"

Sprx and Apollo blinked, looking at each other in shock to confirm that they had really heard that, and Mandarin was slowly uncurling himself from the anxious ball he'd been, and looking surprisingly hopeful. "...Really?"

Chiro nodded, "Uh… yeah… I don't really prefer any of you and… I think you're all equally good looking, and… um… yeah." He really didn't know what else to say, he didn't want to play favorites, and he figured why not try all of them.

There was a quiet tension in the room as the team looked at one another, and then slowly all eyes turned to Mandarin, their body language suggesting that the orange monkey was holding a large bomb in his lap and his thumb hovered shakily over the trigger. When Mandarin saw their expressions, he glared at them. "What? What is it? You think I will be jealous? Ha! Chiro just said I am as good as the rest of you! So there!" He folded his arms and affected an attitude of triumph, as though he had somehow won their six-way contest between them all.

Chrio blushed, not sure what to do now. "So um… I've never been on a date with a guy before or anything like that. And I really mean it when I don't know which one of you I want to date first… so I figured I'd just pick at random?"

"You sure you don't want us to just claim a part of you and romance you like that, kid?" Sprx teased, trying to ease the tension in the room as the monkey team began to come to terms with the idea that they were not being rejected by Chiro and that they would actually get to share him, and that their world was not ending as they had feared. The red monkey hopped out of his seat and approached Chiro, taking the human's right hand and kissing it languidly. "Cause I gotta say, I'd be fine with that…" Sprx's large, soft lips actually felt very nice against the sensitive skin on the back of Chiro's hand, and the way he proceeded to nuzzle the hand after that might have left Chiro tingly.

It might have gotten further than that, had Apollo not stormed over to them both and yanked Sprx back by his tail. He yelped, but offered no resistance to the pink-eyed monkey, who turned to Chiro with a more gentle expression. "Chiro, what you've been doing so far was pretty much dating, only now we're all on the same page with what kind of emotions are involved. Don't be nervous, because believe me, we're all fine with this." He glanced around, looking for any disagreement, but it seemed the monkeys were unanimously in favor of the polyamory. It certainly beat the alternative.

Otto nodded happily, laughing at Sprx's antics, "Yeah, I don't mind it at all. As long as we can date and stuff, I think it'll be great." And to be honest, if Chiro was being polyamorous, there was no reason he and the other's couldn't be right? Because he was wondering if maybe he could try something with Gibson, sure last time had gone poorly, but maybe he had changed. But either way, he got to be with Chiro, so he would be happy.

The silver monkey nodded, "Indeed, if this makes you happy Chiro, I am sure we can all go along with it." Antauri smiled, although a small part of him, a very small, primitive part of him that he hated, was saying no; that Chiro should be his, and his alone. But he ignored it, after all, things would be better this way, right? The team would be closer, and hopefully, that small part of him would quiet, or learn to accept this.

"Well, I mean, yeah. But I meant, dating you guys officially and stuff, because I can't really count all that stuff before, on my part at least. I mean…" He blushed as he looked over them, "I want to know what you're all like when you're being open about it, and stuff." He didn't know how to aptly say it, but he wanted to see them courting him, loving him. And if spending time with them would be as pleasant as that kiss Sprx just gave him was, he thinks he'll definitely enjoy this; maybe even more than he did his time with Jinmay.

"So… who goes first, then? You said it was going to be at random, right?" Apollo ventured, slightly concerned that there was going to be a free-for-all when it came to trying to woo Chiro, and slightly more concerned that he might not win it. "Would dice work? For picking the one you want to start with, I mean."

Gibson nodded, agreeing with this plan, "There are six of us, and six sides on a dice." He looked around at all of them, "We would each take a number, and Chiro would roll the dice. The number he landed on would be the person he dates first." It seemed, in his mind to be the fairest approach.

"It would probably work best if we were assigned based on our pilot numbers. Which means that I would be one, Antauri would be two, Sprx would be three, and so on. Does that sound amicable?" Mandarin asked, his tone full of its usual sneer but he was making a genuine effort to show that he wasn't going to try and mess this up. He wanted to, of course. He wanted to drag Chiro off and claim him as his own and let no one else have him. But he had learned the hard truths about caring for others, and was determined not to ruin his present happiness with the selfish patterns of the past.

"I get to be four then!" Otto happily exclaimed, going along with the plan with ease, finding such an arrangement to more than suit his needs. If he went first, great! If he went last, just as good, it meant more time to plan the perfect date for Chiro! He had no problem sharing Chiro, just as long as they got to love each other at some point, he would be fine.

"Okay! Who's got some dice?" Sprx looked around at the rest of the team, certain that at least one of them would have picked up some dice somewhere. They collected plenty of miscellaneous junk for their rooms, and there was bound to be a small, vital dice somewhere.

"Yes, because obviously, one of us will have dice on us Sprx." Gibson rolled his eyes, smirking as he scanned the room, sure they had a board game stored away here somewhere. He was actually thinking in a manner similar to Otto, hoping he would actually get to go last, for planning purposes. He spotted one stowed away under the couch, and pulled it out, it looking to be some sort of Monopoly like game. He took the cover off and grabbed the dice from it, "All right then, here. I'll be six, if that's alright with you Apollo."

Apollo arched an eyebrow at that, not sure at all why the meticulous Gibson would want to go out of order, but he didn't care either way. The odds were the same no matter what the number was, so five was as good as six. He took the discarded cover from the game and wrote on the underside what their numbers were: Mandarin was One, Antauri was Two, Sprx was Three, Otto was Four, Apollo was Five and Gibson was Six. There was a collective intake of breath as they waited for Chiro to roll the dice.

Chiro too a deep breath and picked up the dice, shaking it for a moment before letting it fly. It landed on the table skittering to a stop in plain view, the number four head showing upright. "...well, you go first Otto." He looked up at the green monkey, who smiled.

"Cool! When do you want to go, tomorrow?" That should give him enough time to plan something.

Chiro nodded, tomorrow sounded fine to him. "Uh, sure, I can work with that."

That seemed to be that, and the rest of the team breathed a collective sigh of relief. It seemed their leader had guided them through yet another potential disaster, and things were looking up.

"So, kid, now that we're openly flirting, can I just tell you that you look real nice in that scarf? Seriously, I might swoon. You'd catch me, right?" Sprx, of course, couldn't leave well enough alone, and was smiling up at Chiro with half-lidded eyes, his tail forming a heart shape behind him.

"It's Otto's turn!" Apollo snapped at him.

"Otto isn't doing anything until tomorrow! Come on, Otto, at least hug him or something!" Sprx replied, as no one had said that they _weren't_ allowed to flirt with Chiro when it wasn't their turn.

Chiro blushed heavily under the attention, certainly not used to more than the occasional mention from Jinmay that he had been looking nice that day. "Uh, that's alright. It's getting late and I was thinking I would go to bed early." Shuggazoom knows he needed the rest after a day as stressful as this.

Antauri nodded, "Well, I think that's fair Chiro. After all, you've been through quite a lot today, no one can deny that." He looked around at everyone, signaling them that they should let their leader rest.

The team filed out, some more reluctantly than others, and Mandarin was the last to leave. He gave Chiro one last glance over his shoulder before heading to his room, a repurposed storage area that had been allotted to him due to Chiro inheriting his old room.

Chiro watched them all leave, sighing as they finally closed the door behind them, and slowly headed up to his room, feeling completely drained. What had just happened? Had he really just agreed to date the entire team? The whole scenario was absolutely insane, and yet… something in him fluttered at the idea. And as he got ready for bed, he couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow would hold.


	4. Otto

**Chapter 4: Otto**

* * *

><p>Chiro was awoken the next morning with a polite knock on the door, and a voice calling out. "Chiro, can I come in?"<p>

Chrio rolled out of his covers, wearing some simple pajamas, and still half asleep. "Huh? Sure…" He lazily swung his feet over the side of his bed, and stood up.

"Good morning, Chiro!" Otto chirped, stepping into the room with a big smile on his face, and a vase of flowers in his arm. The flowers were tiger lillies, and they stood out against the cool blue interior of the Super Robot, not to mention the vibrant colored vase that housed them. He handed it to Chiro with evident delight. "I got you flowers! Cause it's traditional, and also cause they're supposed to represent bringing pretty stuff for people we think are swell, and I think you're really neat!"

"Wha…?!" Being handed the vibrant flowers, their smell wafting into his nose, quickly awoke Chiro. They were beautiful, orange and black… his colors he supposed. He blushed, not used to such a thing. Being the guy, it was usually him that gave the presents to Jinmay, not the other way around. "Wow, thanks Otto." He set the vase down on his nightstand, and turned back to the green cyborg. "I uh… didn't think you'd start our date this early."

"Oh, we can start whenever you want!" Otto waved his metallic hand flippantly. "I just wanted to talk to you, first." He stepped forward and then gently wrapped his arms around Chiro. "I had to say thank you. For giving us all a chance like this. It means a lot, and everyone was so scared last night, but now they're so happy." He smiled up at Chiro. "You're really great, Chiro!"

"Haha, thanks Otto, I mean, I didn't really do much." He rubbed his head in embarrassment as Otto hugged him, "Well, do you mind if I get change and stuff?" He didn't exactly want to strip in front of the monkey, even if they were dating.

"Sure! Oh, and here!" Otto scampered back to the door, and grabbed something just outside the frame, and scampered back. "These are for our date!" He handed Chiro a helmet and a pair of goggles. "Just come to my workshop when you want to get started!" He called as he retreated from the room and gave Chiro his privacy.

Chiro wondered what they could possibly be for, before setting them down and walking to his bathroom to get ready for the day ahead of him. A few minutes later, he emerged from his bedroom, now dressed, and made his way to the kitchen, grabbing a piece of fruit, waving to Antauri who was conversing with an eating Sprx.

"Hello there, Chiro." Antauri said as he looked up from the conversation, "Has Otto approached you yet about the day you were having?"

"Hey, kid." Sprx smiled at him, as he often did, but there was something more to it this morning. A slight curve of his lips, the way his head was tilted, the way his tail swung slowly behind him… he seemed to be looking at Chiro in a new light.

Chiro nearly choked on the apple in his throat as he caught how Sprx was looking at him. Had he always been looking at him like that, and he hadn't noticed? He quickly swallowed it down, smiling nervously, "Uh, yeah. He told me to meet him in his workshop when he was ready. I was gonna head there after this."

Antauri smiled, a very small amount of envy showing through on his face, "Well, I hope you two enjoy yourselves." As long as they didn't enjoy themselves, _too much_, went unspoken, although Chiro swore he saw it in Antauri's expression.

"Oh, Chiro! I meant to ask you, did you roll the dice again? I mean, I'm not gonna step on Otto's toes, but I'd like to know when my turn is coming up." Sprx inquired, deciding that asking Chiro who got his first kiss was something better left answered when Antauri wasn't around.

Chiro shook his head, "Uh, no. Not yet, I mean, I just woke up. I guess after my date with Otto?" That seemed a good a time as any, to him at least.

Antauri nodded, "That seems more than fair. It would let you enjoy your date without worrying about the next team member you would be dating." If Sprx had asked, coincidentally, Antauri would have maintained his composure, and said that they would likely decide it the same way as dating, all while Chiro would have blushed profusely.

When Chiro was on his way down to the engineering bay, he crossed paths with Mandarin, who seemed completely shocked to see him, and froze in place before composing himself and closing the distance between them. "You are… going on your date with Otto, then?"

"Uh… yeah. I figured I might as well get an early start, you know?" He smiled a bit and shrugged, knowing that Mandarin was probably taking this the worst out of all of them, knowing that he wasn't the sole focus of his affections. He had found the former leader had warmed up to him quickly after he joined, which he hadn't thought anything of at the time, but now realized the reason for.

Mandarin seemed uncharacteristically lost and fidgeted restlessly, his tail curling around him defensively. He opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. "I… I sincerely hope that you have a good time with him. I mean it!" He added, as though Chiro had expressed doubt.

Chiro nodded, smiling slightly, "Thanks Mandarin. I… uh…" He really didn't know what he could say to make the situation less awkward. "I'll try, you have a good day while I'm out, okay?"

Mandarin nodded and then moved to walk past Chiro, pausing just long enough to reach out and gingerly pat Chiro's leg, looking up at him to make sure it was all right before he continued on his way.

Chrio quickly made the remainder of the way to Otto's workshop, glad not to have any more awkward encounters along the way. He knocked on the door, holding the helmet and goggles in hand, "Otto? I'm here."

"Come on in, Chiro! I already finished it!" Otto called out, wiping off his hands with a rag and then heading over to the water fountain to finish washing them. When Chiro stepped inside, Otto proudly gestured to the vehicle under the spotlight. "Ta-da! It's the Super Robot Speedbuggy! I'm gonna take you for a ride around the Zone of Wasted Years!"

"Whoa." Chiro stared for a few seconds, before smirking a little, chuckling, "I figured you were going to build something for me, but not something so… elaborate." He circled around the little buggy, noting it would seat the two of them quite comfortably. "It looks really nice."

"Thanks!" Otto beamed at the compliment. "I almost worked on it all night, but the others made me go to bed so I wouldn't be tired for our date."

"Ha, that was probably for the best." Chrio grinned, knowing that Otto would have indeed stayed up all night to work on a project, having done it several times before. "So, the wasted zone huh? You think it'll be safe?"

"Yup! We won't be going too far away, and I got plenty of defenses, just in case!" With a pleasant smile, Otto pointed a remote at the Super Robot Speedbuggy, which immediately sprouted spikes all over its surface, the tips of which began to glow with electrical energy as a transparent sphere surrounded the vehicle. "It even has a force field! And seatbelts! And a cupholder!" Otto cheerfully listed its attributes as he held up a scanner towards Chiro and registered his vital data to make sure the Speedbuggy recognized him as an ally.

"Man, you really went all out for this, huh? No wonder you nearly went without sleep. How long have you been working on this?" He continued to inspect the vehicle, appreciating the craftsmanship Otto had put behind it. Even the seats seemed to be high quality.

Otto modestly rubbed the back of his helmet. "Aw, I had the frame for a while now, I just needed to figure out what to use it for. And the other parts I just had laying around. I think they were meant to make you a present." Otto grinned at him, and hopped into the driver's seat. "Ready to go?"

Chiro nodded as he slipped on the helmet and goggles, "Sure, let's go." He jumped in besides Otto, and the engine roared to life. "Whoa, this thing is powerful!"

Otto chuckled, and slipped his own goggles into place, a smirk on his lips as he reveled in his creation. The press of a button, and the doors to the bay opened and revealed the sky before them. Otto shifted the gear shaft, and the wheels squealed as they peeled out of the hanger and into the open air. "YAH-HOO!" Otto whooped as they plummeted, landing on the ground with a thump and never slowing down. Chiro would notice that he was not being slammed around like one would rightfully expect given the amount of momentum the sudden twists and stops they were experiencing; it seemed that Otto had worked very hard on the shock absorbers, leaving Chiro able to fully enjoy the ride.

Chrio momentarily wondered why Otto had goggles when his helmet already had eye protectors, but guessed Otto just liked the look of them; and he agreed, they looked strangely cute on the green monkey. He immediately went back to enjoying the ride, laughing at the fast twists and turns as Otto drove through the outskirts of the city and into the wasted zone. The amount of work Otto had been able to put into the machine was truly impressive, especially considering the small amount of time he had, it just made him appreciate the mechanic all the more.

Riding in the Super Robot Speedbuggy was akin to a joyride in a freewheeling roller coaster with Otto at the wheel. A tug of a lever sent them jumping high into the sky, a spin of the wheel had them taking sharp turns to avoid obstacles, and the push of a button had them accelerating to blurring speeds. Eventually, the green monkey slowed them down to a more leisurely pace so that they could more enjoy the sights of the strange landscape instead of whizzing by them.

Taking a moment away from viewing the scenery, Chiro turned to Otto with a smile, "This thing is amazing Otto! Like, date or not, I'm having a great time!" He laughed, "I mean, I always knew you were great at building stuff, but this really takes the cake. Well, besides all the work you do to keep the robot running that is."

"Thanks, Chiro!" Otto grinned at him, using his tail to reach over and give Chiro a quick hug around his torso. Honestly, Otto had a lot of fun maintaining the Super Robot, and it wasn't as though he didn't have plenty of help when he needed it. All of them had gravitated to the roles they most wanted to play, though perhaps none of them enjoyed their job as much as Otto did. "I'm glad you like it! Hey, do you wanna drive for a while?" He offered, pressing a button to make a steering wheel pop up in front of Chiro.

"What?" Chiro was more than a little surprised when the wheel popped up in front of him. "Are you sure? I don't know how to drive, and it took me months to learn how to use the robot correctly." Indeed, they were very lucky the Skeleton King's attacks had been fairly small scale before that point, or else they would have been in big trouble. Not to say he didn't want to, just that he wanted far more to not wreck Otto's creation.

"Sure! This area is pretty flat, so there isn't much to run into! Plus I put like a million safety thingies on this baby." Otto assured him with a thumbs up. "Go for it, Chiro!"

While Chiro doubted there was quite a million, even for Otto that would be a lot of work, he felt that if Otto said it was really okay, then he might as well try. His hands rested on the wheel uncomfortably, and he began to turn the cart left and right while Otto kept on the gas at a low speed. "Uh, is that okay?"

"Yep! You're doin' great!" Otto made it a point to accelerate a bit to let Chiro get the feel of a higher speed. "Wanna try the turbo boost yet?"

He gulped as he got used to the high speed, feeling somewhat uneasy at first, but soon finding it exhilarating, "Okay, yeah, let's try it."

Otto giggled, and pressed the button to activate the rocket in the back, and they were both pushed back in their seats by the G-forces as Otto whooped with glee.

Chiro screamed in a mix of horror and joy as they rocketed forward at high speeds, flying along the ground, wind whipping past them. "Whooooaaaa!" He felt his stomach drop as they sped along for another few seconds, before the boost cut out and they slowly fell back to normal speeds.

"Hee hee hee…!" Otto was all but breathless after that jaunt, and he patted Chiro's shoulder. "See? I knew you'd do great!"

Chiro nodded, "Yeah, that was… wow! That was really fun Otto!" He grinned as Otto took over driving again.

The green monkey was happy to show off by driving them in an erratic path to demonstrate the Super Robot Speedbuggy's full range of abilities, and by the time they were ready to turn around and head back, they were both a little worn out, so Otto set it on "Otto-Pilot" to drive them back as he leaned back and relaxed. "Thanks for coming out with me, Chiro!"

Chiro chuckled as he spotted the setting Otto had switched it too, "Really? 'Otto' pilot? That's something I'd expect from Sprx." He continued chuckling as he too relaxed. "No problem Otto, it was really fun, I'd be glad to do it again sometime."

"Hey, he's not the only one who knows how to have fun!" Otto retorted, chuckling. They rode in comfortable silence for a while, then Otto looked down at his hand, deliberating. Should he…? Gathering his courage, he reached over and gently settled his hand on top of Chiro's own.

'Fun', right. Chiro rolled his eyes but allowed the monkey to enjoy his pun. He began to nod off a little as they rode along, and as such barely noticed when Otto placed his hand on his. When he looked down at the strange feeling, and saw Otto's hand on his, he blushed lightly, but decided to leave it there. It felt… nice.

Otto was content with just this much contact, and didn't try to push things any further than that, though he did gently rub the top of Chiro's hand as they rode along, the Super Robot looming up in the distance. All in all, it had been a pretty good date.


	5. More Gambling

It was about half an hour later that Chiro emerged from his room, having gone to clean himself up from the dirt and muck he had gotten all over him as a result of the buggy ride. Not that he had minded of course, if anything, it had made the experience all the more exhilarating. Of course, he couldn't think about it without thinking of Otto, and he could definitely say that he wanted to go on another date with the green monkey. Somehow, the quiet moments between them stuck out even more than the fun they had when the buggy was roaring across the terrain; the strange comfort he had only ever experienced before with Jinmay.

He finished up in his bathroom and headed towards the common room, figuring he might as well stop there on his way to the kitchen for dinner. After all, there was a good chance that some of the team was already there, waiting for him to make the next roll, and decide who he dated next.

Though decided by chance, Otto had been a good choice for a first date. He was neither smug nor self-satisfied about having had his chance with Chiro, and if anything, he only looked more content and at peace with his place in the universe.

The same could not be said for the rest of the Team. It was no where near as bad as it had been the night before, but there was still an uneasy air of tension hanging in the room as they awaited the next roll of the dice. Mandarin was crouched on the arms of one of the chairs with his back to the room; he was trying to keep his composure but he couldn't shake the feeling that the rest of the Team was unfairly assuming the worst of him. Sprx and Apollo were chatting more amiably now, but their body language was not as relaxed as it had been a few nights before. The tension was only broken when Chiro finally entered the room and they collectively sighed in relief.

"Hey kid! Have a good time? I see Otto managed to get you home before curfew." Sprx teased him. "Guess that means you two didn't make a stop at Make Out Desolate Plain?"

Chiro blushed a bit, "No!" He wasn't quite as taken aback as he would have been if Sprx said that yesterday, but it still made him feel weird to hear that. "I mean, we didn't do anything like that, I mean… we barely held hands."

Otto smiled happily at that memory, while the rest of the team looked over at him, partially envious, partially glad that Otto hadn't gone further than that. Of course, that wasn't to say they planned on going further either. Well, that's what they told themselves at least.

Gibson glanced at the die lying on the table, wondering if he had ever cared so much about a white cube with black dots before. Probably not, he thought as he cleared his throat. "So, I do believe that it is time to… choose our numbers again. Correct?"

Antauri considered this, "Well, seeing as it is up to chance, I say we all keep the same numbers. If it lands on four, Chiro just rolls again." After all, it wasn't as if the numbers held importance.

"Okay. sounds fine to me." Chiro said, stepping up to take the die from the table, the whole team, aside from Otto, watching with anticipation. The die skittered to a stop on the edge of the table, almost falling off before everyone saw the up facing side, one.

"Yes!" Mandarin punched the air with a cry of triumph. "Yes! Triumph is mine! Fickle fate has seen fit to smile upon me this day!"

As he continued to rant, Apollo leaned closer to Sprx. "I'm getting flashbacks to when we used to play cards with him." The boxer remarked dryly.

"-am the victor!" Mandarin finished, flush with the heady rush of success, and then turned to Chiro with a grin before he bowed with more elegance than they thought he possessed. "Chiro, I would be most pleased if you would accompany me on an excursion tomorrow. I will make dinner." He added to prove that he was magnanimous in victory, before he hopped off of his chair and marched away with his head held high.

Chiro wasn't quite sure what to say as he watched Mandarin march away, other than a simple, "Ok." He managed to eke out before Mandarin was out the door. He turned back to the rest of the team, "Uh… I guess I'll go have dinner then."

When Chiro ventured into the kitchen, he found that former team leader was already making progress on dinner, having dragged a large metal pot out and filling it with broth and water. He was actually humming to himself as he retrieved more ingredients from the cupboards, his lashing tail visible from the table. Watching Mandarin work was an interesting demonstration of his ambidextrous skills as he grabbed an onion with his foot, passed it to his tail and tossed it into the air before chopping it with his energy sword before it completed its arc into the pot, all without glancing behind him. The rest of the Monkey Team were no less agile, but they generally used their feet for walking, and their tails for balance, whereas Mandarin used all five limbs interchangeably with little visible effort. A pepper was diced while he was upside down, and a carrot was chopped up while he was leaping from one side of the room to the other. Mandarin had certainly possessed the physical skills he had needed to lead the Team; it was a pity he was so sorely lacking in everything else.

Chiro had to admit, it was definitely impressive. Even if he had a tail, he doubted he would be able to accomplish something like that, and he stared as the rest of the team caught up to him, entering the kitchen behind him.

Mandarin was almost palpably smug as he continued to swing and leap around the kitchen, but he was at least a decent cook. The scent was appetizing, and by the time he was ladling his creation into bowls for the rest of them, the rest of the team was eagerly seated at the table.

"Shouldn't we have him take the first bite?" Sprx teased, prompting Apollo to smack him upside the head and tilt his helmet forward, though it did nothing to diminish his smirk.

Ignoring Sprx, Mandarin placed the last bowl in front of Chiro with a flourish, and beamed up at him. "Bon appetite, Chiro."

"Um… thanks." He wasn't sure how he felt about this, even at his most affectionate with him, Mandarin never acted quite so… happy. He was honestly a bit weirded out by it. Still, it would be rude to not eat his food, especially when it did actually look and smell quite good. "What is it exactly?" He asked as he blew on the hot bowl of soup.

"Vegetables." Mandarin answered promptly, blowing on his own soup and eating in a leisurely manner. He did indeed look unusually happy, but the rest of the Team would recognize it as the kind of smug self-satisfaction he wore when he felt he'd won a decisive victory. He had been insufferable for weeks after he won their battle royale.

Apollo was the last to start eating, though he tried not to be obvious about it. As the two (very arguably) strongest fighters on the Team, Mandarin had felt that Apollo deserved special attention and training to unlock his full potential. Unfortunately, Mandarin had been a very firm believer in tough love, and it had driven a deep wedge between the two of them that remained to this day. It wasn't a big deal, no matter how much Sprx pestered him with questions about it, it was just another annoyance that came with dealing with his brothers.

Antauri was relatively pleased that Mandarin wasn't being too spiteful in his winning, having made a dish that was palatable for him, although he too recognized the mood he was currently in. He hoped for his own sake that he soon dropped it, as he doubted Chiro would very much appreciate it.

Otto was thinking roughly the same, his own date having been a relative success, he was hoping the same for the others, and he had a feeling that if anyone would end up screwing up in a major way on their date, it would probably be Mandarin. The monkey was a perfectionist, and even he knew that was trouble when planning a romantic outing.

Mandarin finished first, and waited for the others to finish their own bowls before politely gathering them up and addressing Chiro. "Chiro? What time would you like to go on our date tomorrow?" He seemed to be really leaning on his polite/courteous mode now, which he rarely pulled out except when he felt the need to cajole a favor out of someone, and even then he usually just tried to intimidate them into doing what he wanted.

"Uh, well… our schedule has me doing a patrol tomorrow morning, so anytime after that I guess." Really, the team seemed to have freed up his schedule over the past few days a lot, in terms of training and patrols. Although he liked to think part of it was because he was getting better and didn't need it as much anymore, he was pretty sure it was just them ensuring he had time for their dates.

Gibson was tempted to bring up that it had actually been Mandarin and Antauri's idea in the first place, he himself believing it was best for Chiro to continue his studies, but the two of them had convinced the rest of the team that Chiro could go a few days without as many responsibilities.

"Excellent! I will take the time to make all the preparations!" Mandarin clapped his metal hands together, looking pleased. "I must take my leave of you now, brothers. There is much to do!" He scampered out of the kitchen, and then poked his head back in the doorframe. "AlsoGibsonIamusingyourlab. Goodbye!"

Otto laughed as it took a few moments for Gibson to properly react, "Wait what?!" But Mandarin was already gone, and Gibson left pouting. "He had better not destroy anything in there. It's not every day I can get Shuggazoomian citizens to donate the types of materials I need!"

Chiro looked around, smiling awkwardly, "So… uh… Sprx and Otto, you two want to play some video games?" It was several hours until he would need to go to sleep, and he didn't have much else to do. He even glanced at Antauri who seemed to nod a little bit to say that it was fine.

"Sure thing, kid! Wanna be on my team…?" The sly way he said it made the double-entendre hard to miss. "Or maybe me and Otto can team up against you…?" Now he was leaning against the table, his chin in his hand and his eyes half-lidded as he sent a smile up at Chiro.

Apollo rolled his eyes impressively well considering he had no visible pupils. "Don't worry, Chiro, he was like this when we were dating, too. All you have to do is flick him on the nose and say 'No.'."

Chiro still blushed, but at the same time, laughed a little, more nervous than anything, but he guessed it was progress on his part. Otto did too, albeit more earnestly, "C'mon Sprx, besides, you know that if it was me and Chiro versus you, you'd lose right away."

Antauri merely looked on with a sigh as he walked out of the kitchen, "Remember Sprx, it's not your turn to date Chiro, the same goes for you Otto."

Otto nodded, smiling, he was more than happy with his time with Chiro, so he didn't feel any need to make a move on him.

"No one said flirting wasn't allowed!" Sprx countered, but he lead the way to the common room and their gaming system without trying to make Chiro blush again, even if he did find it extremely entertaining.

The night continued peacefully, with Sprx and Otto on either side of Chiro during the electronic battle royale, and if they were sitting a bit closer than they had before this polyamorous plan had been enacted, well… It wasn't that bad, having two close friends nearly pressed up against him, their limbs flailing as they each tried to encourage their fighter through furiously emphatic gesturing.

"Mmm, c'mon." Chiro growled as he tried to mash his way out of Otto's stun lock, his avatar being wailed upon by the green monkey's own. Just as he was about to be knocked out, Sprx seemed to come out of nowhere and delivered a vicious combo to Otto's character. "Ha, thanks Sprx!" Just as Otto was pouting about his character being KO'd, Sprx avatar spun around and gave a killing blow to Chiro's. "Aw man, that was super cheap of you Sprx."

"Don't hate the player, hate the game, kid." Sprx replied, smirking as his character remained the victor of that round.

Otto shrugged with a sudden grin, "Well, we're still beating you over all, that was the first round you've won Sprx." He was tempted to rub it in more, but only pointed at the score on the top, that put him and Chiro tied for first with two each.

Chiro nodded, "And seeing as it's still first to three, I don't think you're going to beat us."

"We'll see!" Sprx insisted, returning with enthusiasm to the next round.

Indeed, Sprx was determined to make them see, again barely squeaking in another win the next round; leading to a groaning Chiro, "That was SOOOO cheap."

Sprx pumped his fist in triumph. "Sorry, kid, can't hear you over the sound of the trumpets announcing my victory!"

Otto shook his head, "Nuh uh uh Mister, this is the deciding round!"

They started it up again, and the trio were soon at it, their avatars dancing around the screen as they attempted to be the winner. Chiro was the first one out this round, trying to parry a blow of Otto's but missing the timing by just a hair. "Aw man." That left it Otto and Sprx, both whittled down to their last bit of health.

"...Hey, Otto… How about a bet?" Sprx offered in a suspiciously casual tone. "Winner of this one gets to sit in Chiro's lap?" He turned and winked at Chiro to let him know this was mostly a joke. Mostly.

"Sure!" Otto's tone as he agreed sounded so innocent that Chiro wasn't sure if the green monkey got the innotations behind the offer or not. Either way, the bet seemed to give Otto an extra boost in skill, or perhaps in luck, and he delivered a finishing blow to Sprx in a matter of seconds.

Chiro looked over as Sprx cursed the turn of events, before looking over to Otto. "Uhm…" He wasn't quite sure what to say to Otto.

Otto just chuckled and slowly crawled forward until his small body was settled on top of Chiro's thighs, and he leaned back to smile up at the human. "Thanks for a fun day, Chiro."

Chiro nodded back with a small, somewhat nervous smile, while Sprx watched on, seeming to fume a bit. They stayed like that for a few seconds, before Otto giggled and hopped off, "Well, it's time to get ready for bed!"

Sprx had mercy on Chiro and didn't offer to escort him back to his room, though he did blow him a kiss before heading off to his own bedroom. "Night, kid. Sleep well!"

Chiro nodded with a bit of wave, and quickly ducked into his bedroom.


End file.
